Nests and Eggs of Birds of The United States

While some follow the stretch of country between our two great western mountain systems, and breed in Washington Territory and the country to the northward, others forsake their winter-quarters, and travel in a northeasterly direction to the shores of Newfoundland and Labrador. A few, however, lag behind and find suitable summer resorts in the pine forests and Thuja swamps of New Hampshire and Maine. When our mountain regions and dense forests are better known, we hazard the opinion that many will be found to breed nearer home than we are aware. Paired individuals have often been met with along the hills of the Wissahickon, in Pennsylvania, during the breeding-season, which evidently had nests, but diligent search failed to reveal the fact.

Before the discovery of the nest of this species, the presumption was that it built a pensile nest, not unlike the European congener, and that it laid small eggs faintly sprinkled with buff-colored dots on a white background, but differing little in size from those of the common Humming-bird. It was also inferred that two broods were annually raised, from the fact that so much time was spent in its summer abode, and also because full-fledged young were found by Mr. Nuttall in May, on the Columbia, and in August, by Mr. Audubon, in Labrador.

According to Mr. J. K. Lord, who discovered this species to be very common in Vancouver's Island, and also along the entire boundary-line of Washington Territory and British Columbia, where it sometimes reaches an elevation of six thousand feet, it constructs a pensile nest, which it suspends from the extreme end of a pine-branch; and that it lays from five to seven eggs. The materials of the nest, and the color and dimensions of the eggs, were never described.

The world remained in ignorance of these matters until the summer of 1875, when Mr. H. D. Minot discovered, on the sixteenth day of July, a nest of this species. It was built in a forest of the White Mountains, which consisted chiefly of white birches and evergreens. The nest was securely fastened to the twigs of a spreading hemlock-bough, was globular in shape, and placed about four feet above the ground. The outside was composed of hanging moss and bits of dead leaves; the inside was chiefly lined with feathers. There can be no doubt as to the authenticity of this nest, as Mr. Minot observed the parents in the act of carrying food to their young, and was enabled to track them to their homes.

But the structure from which the drawing was made – found near Bangor, Maine – was presented to Mr. Harry Merrill, in the summer of 1876. It was placed about six feet from the ground in a mass of thick growth so peculiar to many of our fir trees, and is chiefly composed of moss on the outside, with a few small fragments of chips, and is lined with hair and feathers, the latter principally. The external diameter is four and a half inches, and depth outside nearly three inches. The opening is at the top, and measures about one and three-fourths inches across, and two in depth. Although the birds that built this nest were not seen by Mr. Merrill, yet by the pretty sure evidence of exclusion, they cannot belong to any other species than the one under consideration.

Of their habits while with young, our knowledge is small. It is evident, however, from what Mr. Minot says, that both parents supply their nestlings with food. Incubation is doubtless performed by them both, the female assuming the bulk of the labor. Unlike many species, these birds do not pass the breeding-season in silence, but keep up, with occasional intermissions, an animated twittering.

The eggs possibly range from six to ten in number. To the eye they appear of a cream-white color, apparently covered with minute spots. Under the microscope, the ground-color is white, with shell marks of purplish-slate, and a few obscure spots of a deep buff, rather superficial, to which their dirty tinge is probably due. The largest egg measures .52 of an inch in length, and .40 in width; the smallest,47 by .30 inches. The average dimensions of the ten eggs are .50 by .41 inches.

Plate XVII. – UTAMANIA TORDA, (Linn.), Leach. – Razor-billed Auk

The Razor-billed Auc, owing to its boreal residence, is not so well known as many other marine species which breed nearer home. Like its few intimate cousins, it is chiefly restricted to Arctic regions, only coming southward when pressed by severe weather.

Though apparently the best known of its family, yet many of the details of its habits are lacking to render its biography anything like complete. Of its area of distribution we are tolerably well-informed. In the north-eastern portions of North America, particularly along the sea-borders of Labrador and Newfoundland, it is quite plentiful, and thence occasionally strays along the coast-lines of New England and the Middle States during the winter. These birds, however, are not confined to this continent, but are identical with the bird of the northern regions of the Old World.

According to Mr. Cory, who has studied them in their haunts, they are remarkably abundant and prolific on some of the Magdalen Islands, Bird Rock and Byron Island especially, where the young birds were observed in their downy robes of black and white.

Visiting the United States only in small numbers during the inclemency of winter, its predilection for the northern homes of its fathers – when the mild breath of spring in its upward march from the South has tempered with mercy the reign of old Boreas in his rocky, ice-bound fastnesses – induces it to take its departure, and wend its longing flight thither.

There is not the slightest evidence, so far as our investigations have extended, to show that any attempts have ever been made to nest along the shores of this country. The fact that the species breeds on the islands in the Bay of Fundy, would seem to warrant the belief that they may yet be found to visit the coast of Maine for this purpose. There seems to be no good reason why they should not do so, as the maritime parts of this State are apparently as well adapted for nesting as the islands just mentioned.

Be this as it may, cool northern localities seem to be more advantageous, and there, along with the Guillemots as their neighbors, the subject of our sketch establishes his home and rears his little family.

In boreal regions where the amatory forces are not called into action as early as in more southern climes, by reason of the greater degrees of cold which prevail, the acquirement of food seems to exercise such a controlling influence over bird-nature, that all other duties are held under temporary restraint. Consequently, matrimonial relations are not entered into as early as in warmer latitudes. This essential business is delayed, and is only warmed into activity when the sun has reached the northern limits of its course.

About the beginning of June, there occurs a lull in foraging transactions, and the sexes become suddenly aware of the object of their creation. Mating is at once entered into, but with what appearance of show, we are unable to say.

Having attended to this duty, without further ado, they seek themselves out a spot in which to lay their egg or eggs. For this purpose a horizontal cavern or some exposed locality is generally chosen. But when they deposit their eggs along with the Guillemots, which they are occasionally disposed to do, they drop them in situations from which the water can escape without offering any material injury thereto.

In deep fissures, many birds lie together, and place their eggs upon small beds of pebbles or broken stones, which are raised a couple of inches or more, so that the water may readily pass beneath them. Here the eggs are scattered at distances of three or four inches from each other, and are incubated, as in the case of the Ducks, by the birds sitting flat upon them. Whereas, upon an exposed rock, each bird stands almost upright on its egg.

There yet remains a very strange fact concerning this Auk, which needs to be noted. It pertains to the number of eggs which is to constitute a nest-full. When nesting occurs in secluded situations, where security against tidal currents, and divers accidents, is to be gained, in the majority of instances, two eggs are found under a single female. In exposed situations, on the other hand, it is a rare occurrence to find more than one egg as a complement.

The above statements, which are substantially those of Audubon, have been repeatedly verified by other observers, some of whom are among the writer's most reliable correspondents. At first we were disposed to question their accuracy. We could not see what advantages a sequestered situation had over one that was open and exposed, so as to lead the birds to double their number in the former case. Our only way out of the difficulty then, was by supposing the two eggs to be laid by different birds, in close proximity to each other. For want of the necessary room to accommodate the two females, it became the duty of one or the other to assume the responsibility of them. Owing to the great difficulty of distinguishing the eggs of this species from those of the Murre or Foolish Guillemot, which most oologists have experienced, and which Audubon does not seem to have encountered, it occurred to us that as the Auks are prone to drop their eggs alongside of those of the Guillemots, maybe the two eggs were those of distinct species, and not the product of the one under consideration.

Without further mincing of matters, there does not seem to be any valid reason for doubting the authenticity of Audubon's statements. But as a true student of Nature, it is our duty to receive the facts, confirmed as they have been by subsequent observations, and seek an explanation thereof which will be both rational and philosophic.

In exposed situations, the eggs are subject to certain perils, such as exposures to storms and violent gusts of wind, which more retired places would guard against. The Auks have doubtless learned this as a lesson of experience. Perhaps, necessity only compels them to occupy such sites, when there is a scarcity of deep fissures and horizontal caverns, by reason of a superabundance of mated individuals. If one egg could be better protected and covered than two, which the nearly erect attitude of the bird would seem to warrant us in believing, some females would certainly not be slow in perceiving the advantages to be acquired. The experiment being tried by birds of unusual sagacity, and with happy results, in course of time all the others would be led to the practice of depositing a single egg. Furthermore, the laying of one egg, in case of breakage, would not be as severely felt as in cases where more than one constituted the complement. The habit of laying one egg in exposed situations, would doubtless be continued for a while at least, should the species so accustomed, ever be called upon to nest in places protected by the rocky munitions of Nature. And, on the other hand, birds habituated to nesting in sheltered situations, would for a while continue to deposit two eggs for a setting.

The eggs being laid, the female soon commences to incubate. This seems to be the exclusive labor of the sex. The fact that she plucks the feathers from her abdomen, forming one or two bare spots (according to the number which is to compose her complement) with a ridge of feathers between them, though circumstantial in character, is the only kind of evidence that we have to offer in support of our assertion. Of the precise time required for hatching, we have no knowledge. From the size of the egg, and the thickness of its shell, we reason from analogy that it cannot be less than twenty-four days. The female is not a constant sitter during the daytime, the heated pebbles on clear, sunshiny days supplying the necessary warmth during her absence. When the weather is cloudy, and even during the cool nights, she remains on the nest, the male, as a faithful husband, doubtless answering her calls for food, or keeping her company.

That these birds manifest true affection for each other cannot be denied. They may have a different way of showing it from what we are accustomed to see among our small land-birds, but we cannot speak with positiveness. But this much is undisputed, when one is killed, its mate does not desert it, but paddles around it, as if seeking the cause of its stillness. At such times, so absorbed does it become, whether from grief or wonder we cannot say, that it can easily be approached and knocked over with an oar.

The food of the Razor-bills consists of small fishes, roe, shrimps, various marine animals, and floating garbage, which they procure by diving and swimming, or pick up among the rocks which they frequent. The young doubtless subsist upon the same materials, which they receive from their parents, in small pieces, during their earliest life. But after they have passed the downy stage, and are thrown, in a measure, upon their own resources, they imitate the example of their parents.

So much like the eggs of the Foolish Guillemot or Murre, already mentioned, are those of this species, that it is impossible to discern a characteristic so peculiar and persistent as to enable us to distinguish them apart. The ground-color is generally a pure-white; but specimens are often met with which are cream-colored, and others, again, which are tinted with green. The spots and blotches are irregularly distributed, but chiefly about the middle and the larger end. Some are small and nearly round, others large and irregular. In color they show different shades of black and brown. In addition to these markings, there are others scattered over the egg, of an obscure-purple hue, which have the appearance of being beneath the outside of the shell. The eggs vary in shape; occasionally they are pyriform and ovoidal, and, at other times, decidedly ovate.

Their length is 3.19 inches, and breadth 2.13. In the Plate, the egg is figured the natural size, and placed upon the summit of a small pile of stones at the entrance to a cavern along a rocky seashore. The birds are reduced and put in the background, the idea being to show their form, as well as the arrangement of their plumage.

Plate XVIII. – DENDROECA DISCOLOR, Baird. – Prairie Warbler

The Prairie Warbler is nowhere an abundant species. Throughout the eastern parts of the United States, from Massachusetts to Georgia, it is pretty generally, though somewhat irregularly, diffused. It is also found in Kansas, according to Mr. Allen, although unobserved by Dr. Coues in his western explorations.

Audubon claims to have met it in Louisiana, but his description of its nesting is so palpably inaccurate, that we are compelled to accept his statement with misgivings. Wilson obtained specimens in Kentucky, and to him the species is indebted for the very inappropriate appellation by which it is known. Nuttall regarded it a rare visitor in the New England States, yet subsequent observations do not confirm his opinion, but show, in Massachusetts especially, that it is rather common. In Eastern Tennessee and Northern Georgia, in the summer of 1880, Mr. Alexander M. Reynolds, of Germantown, Pa., met with numerous individuals, which had probably bred in those regions, but no nests were taken.

Although the town of Lynn, Mass., in latitude 42° 30', had hitherto been accepted as the northern limit of its breeding, yet it was reserved for H. D. Minot, Esq., to prove that the species often reached the latitude of Mt. Washington, nearly three degrees further north. Future explorations will doubtless show that its vernal migration often surpasses this limit, and reaches even to the Canadian dominions.

In the Middle Atlantic States the writer has obtained specimens early in May, and has observed in Southern New Jersey, and elsewhere, young birds just able to fly, but could never discover auy nests. Mr. Jolin Cassin, in his day, expressed the opinion that these birds certainly bred in the same State, near Philadelphia, as he frequently met with the young under similar circumstances. Nests have been taken in Central New York, but we have no evidence of its breeding in the adjoining State of Pennsylvania, although individuals have been seen in transitu.

Though chiefly a migrant in the United States, yet a few winter in Florida. But the larger part cross the Channel, after the breeding-season is over, and spend their time in the delightful islands which lie to the southward. Here, in January, these once beautiful birds may be seen in their winter garb sporting amid tropical or sub-tropical foliage, or hunting the insects that contribute to their bill of fare.

About the beginning of April, sometimes later, they deck themselves in their summer array, and while some sojourn in these Isles of the Blest where summer is perennial, and raise their charming little families, others pine for the cooler groves and fields of the North. Accordingly, about the tenth of April, all things being in readiness, and at a season when Nature is weeping herself away in rainy tears, the males apparently leading the way, the sexes bid adieu to the sights about them, and take their departure.

Their arrival in the Middle section of our country varies somewhat, and is dependent upon the season. During some years we have noted their appearance about the twentieth of April, when the weather was fine, and at other times not earlier than the first of May. In the vicinity of Washington, Dr. Coues has found them in pine-trees and cedar-patches, about the same time. Farther south, in Georgia, for example, the birds make their advent as early as the tenth of April, preferring the hillsides to open localities, but it is not until the second or the third week of May that they reach the New England States.

Few species of the family to which this Warbler belongs arrive sooner, and none are less shy and suspicious. For more than two weeks they are denizens of open plains and thinly-wooded regions, where they may be seen from sunrise until sunset, save during the sultry noontide hours, leisurely moving along the lowermost tree-branches, or among low bushes and herbaceous weeds by the roadside, in search of insects, all the while uttering, at brief intervals, their characteristic chirr. Near Boston they frequent "almost exclusively rocky pasture grounds and the 'scrub,'" and instances are recorded by Mr. Minot where shrubbery in cultivated grounds has been visited. According to Mr. Gosse, individuals have been seen to fly from wayside-bushes into the middle of the road, where, hovering in the air, at slight elevations above the ground, they were apparently engaged in the capture of dipterous insects.

But as the mating season approaches, the males become quite restless. They manifest less concern about food, and from some low eminence may be seen pouring forth their slender, filing notes, which, as Nuttall has represented, may be very aptly expressed by the suppressed syllables 'tsh-tsh-tsh-tshea. These notes cannot fail to attract attention, and, when once heard, are sure to leave a lasting impress on the mind. They are uttered in a peculiar tone, each being given in a louder key than the preceding, and frequently with a strange depression of the tail.

The little musicians, however, have not long to wait. For hours we have known some love-lorn minstrel of another species to sing his very soul away, without an answering note to repay him for all his trouble. The one for which he tuned his vocal pipe was too much occupied by other cares to be mindful of the delicious strains which were being wasted 011 the desert air. But not so in the present instance. The dear ones for whom they watch, and for whom they chant their sweetest, purest music, are not so far removed by hill and dale, by grove and plain, are not so absorbed in food-concerns, as not to hear the sounds which are being uttered for their sole pleasure. But obedient to the call, they cease their feeding, turn listening ears in the directions whence the sounds issue, and hearing once again, with pleasure-beaming eyes and swelling bosoms, seek the lonely haunts of their would-be-suitors. The joy of the males is now unbounded. They strike their harps afresh, and music, it seems, ten-fold more ravishing, is discoursed. The effect is charming. The gentle beings feel the notes pulsing through their rapt frames, and, all-unconscious, yield themselves willing subjects to their proud conquerors.

Thus it is that mating is accomplished. A few days spent in aimless wanderings and pleasure-seeking, and the happy pair are prepared to build themselves a home. For this purpose they visit in company some wild pasture-land or thinly-wooded tract, where, after a day or two occupied in prospecting, they decide upon some kind of bush or low tree in which to place it. The birds do not seem to be very particular as to the kind. In some localities, a wild rose-bush is preferred. In others, low barberry bushes, or the lower limbs of post-oaks, are rendered subservient.

The site, and the kind of bush or tree being chosen, the birds commence to build. The nest is non-pensile, and is fixed either in a forked branch, or is supported, as is the case when placed in a wild rose, by two or more branches. The elevation above the ground is usually from four to seven feet. No case has come to our knowledge where the latter height has been exceeded. The period of nesting varies according to locality. In Georgia nests have been found with eggs as early as the second of May, which would make it appear that they were constructed towards the close of the preceding month. In one instance, eggs were found as late as the tenth of June. It is probable that the birds commence labor about the first of May, in this section of the country, and sitting, a fortnight later. In New Jersey this essential business is delayed until the middle of this month, while in Massachusetts, it is not undertaken before the first week of June.

Having built their domicile, which is usually the work of a week, both birds laboring with praiseworthy diligence, and only intermitting operations when pressed by bad weather and the approach of night, the female commences to deposit her eggs. These are laid on consecutive days, at the rate of one a day. The time devoted to oviposition lasts from three to six days, and is dependent, upon the number which is to constitute a complement. As soon as the last deposit is made, the female takes the nest, and continues thereon, save when the male relieves her, for a period of eleven days, when she is rewarded for her patience and assiduity, by seeing and hearing a nest-full of callow fledglings. While the female is thus engaged, the male is busy among the branches of low bushes and saplings in search of small caterpillars and insects. Occasionally, he may be seen upon the shrub which supports the nest, apparently on the alert for intruders, which he signals by a low chirp. Should the nest be examined, he and his partner exhibit no outward signs of indignation or lamentation, but remain quietly in the neighborhood until the danger is past, when they return to their home. If the nest is ravaged, they set to work to replenish it, wasting little, if any, time over the contingencies of fate. In case of a second desecration, they quietly forsake the place, and if the season is not too far advanced, seek quarters elsewhere, where they endeavor to build a home and rear their offspring. On approaching the nest the female is very confiding, and exercises no precautions to guard against exposure, as is the case with many of our small birds. Nuttall gives a striking proof of this fact. On one occasion he removed two eggs from the nest, which he subsequently replaced. Each time, on withdrawal, she returned thither, but practised no stratagems to lure him away.

In their descriptions of the nests and eggs of this species both Wilson and Audubon are certainly at fault. They differ from more recent and reliable observations. The nest, as described by them, is never pensile, but is scarcely distinguishable from that of the Yellow Warbler. Xuttall, on the other hand, is not open to the same criticism. The nest which he describes, was placed in a forked branch, and formed of caterpillars' silk, strips of the inner bark of the red cedar, and fibres of asclepias. The inside was lined with the down of a species of everlasting.

A nest found by Mr. Welch, in Lynn, and described by Dr. Brewer, was built upon a wild rose, only a few feet above the ground. It was a compact and elaborately woven fabric, and was composed chiefly of soft inner bark of small shrubs, bits of dry rose leaves, wood, strips of vegetables, woody fibres, spiders' webs, decayed stems of plants, etc., on the outside, and was lined with fine vegetable fibres and a few horse-hairs. The outside diameter was two and a half inches, and the height, the same. The inside diameter was two inches; depth, one and a half. The above nest, in its general mode of construction, resembled all he had seen. In other nests he found only variations in composing materials. While some had dead and decayed leaves instead of fine strips of bark, others contained the remains of old cocoons, or the pappus of composite plants.